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Page 496
Chapter Twenty-Five
Once upon the walls, there was no reason to laugh. It was apparent that Lord Gwenwynwyn intended assault as soon as he could get his ladders fixed and his ram ready. He was making no effort to hide his preparations, nor even the size of his forces. Ian looked over the number of men laboring on scaling ladders and frowned. The force was not very large, but it was large enough to take the keep unless it was defended with very great determination. Worse, within the keep they were very few. Determination might withstand one assault, possibly two. After that they would be taken, because there would be no replacements for men wounded or killed.
As soon as Ian emerged from the keep, Geoffrey and Owain came across to him. Unless the men who kept them prisoner were deliberately being hidden, they reported, Sir Peter had told the truth. Those three were not on the walls. With his squires behind him, Ian went up through the tower near the gate and paced the walls, inspecting the preparations for defense and speaking a few words to each man. Owain had not been misled by the servants. The men-at-arms had believed he was sick. All asked anxiously after his health, and Ian reassured them. His appearance supported his statements. If his face was a little drawn and hollow-eyed, it was easy to see that he carried his weight of mail lightly and walked with a spring to his step. To each man his message was the same: Fight to live; yield and die. Gwenwynwyn would permit no tale of what happened in the keep to be carried abroad. Thus, each man, innocent as he

 
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